


Quiet Night

by ishipthat



Series: Sterek Drabbles [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Post-Nogitsune
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-12
Updated: 2014-03-12
Packaged: 2018-01-15 11:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1303756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishipthat/pseuds/ishipthat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sterek prompt: The Sheriff is woken up by Stiles' screaming and runs to his room but finds Derek already holding tight to stiles murmuring "it's not your fault" over and over. The Sheriff thinks about what he's learned of the Hale fire and Kate Argent and wonders if Derek understands how Stiles feels more than anyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet Night

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t even read this and it’s probably utter shite but meh, all writing practice it good yeah?  
> Got some nice comments on Tumblr so decided to post it here :)

It feels like his head has been against the pillow for mere seconds before the Sheriff is being woken by the sounds of his son screaming in terror, the gut-wrenching sobs ringing in his ears. Sometimes when this happens the sound is so loud that in his half asleep state he reaches over to calm his wife, only to realize it’s coming from Stiles’ room, that his wife has been gone long enough that the instinct should’ve faded.

He bolt upright in seconds, throwing off the covers to dart across the hall. He hasn’t even reached Stiles’ door, but the screaming has already stopped. John approaches with caution, cracking the door enough to peer inside, and when his eyes adjust to the darkness of Stiles’ room he sees that his son isn’t alone.

Derek Hale is sat behind him, Stiles pulled into his lap and head resting on the older mans chest. Derek’s got a hand carding through the front of Stiles’ hair, and John thinks he can see Derek’s eyebrows dragged down in a sorrowful expression. He’s got his other hand on Stiles’ hip and he’s whispering something in his ear.

John steps into the room and Derek doesn’t even flinch, like he knows he’s there already and doesn’t want to rouse Stiles who’s now panting soft sobs into the fabric of Derek’s shirt. Derek, John notes, is still fully clothed, so somehow he’d gotten into the house after Stiles fell asleep, and that gets John wondering if he lingers around the Stilinski house often.

He’s close enough to the bed now to hear Derek’s repeated muttering. “It’s not your fault, it’s not your fault.” He coos, rocking him gently in his arms. Derek drops a kiss to Stiles’ forehead before seeming to remember that Stiles’ dad was standing right there. “It’s OK, Stiles, I’ve got you. You’re safe.” And it looks like it’s doing the trick because Stiles is bringing a hand up to tighten around the front of Derek’s shirt, levering himself up to get at Derek’s face.

It’s awkward for John because he knows Stiles is completely oblivious to him, but there’s something so innocent in the kiss, like he’s watching two friends hug. And whilst he knows that’s not what’s going on here, it doesn’t bother him the way he thinks it should. He remembers back to when his son has first sat him down to tell him werewolves were real, and all the things he’d told him about Derek Hale. The Sheriff knew there was heartbreak there, in Derek’s past, but he’d had no idea just how deep that knife cut, how impossible that wound was to heal. Stiles told him one night as an off handed comment that Derek still blamed himself for that fire and it set off an uncomfortable pang in his chest. Derek was only a kid back then. He was Stiles’ age.

It clicks in his head then, why he’s not shocked that Derek and Stiles are closer than he first thought. They had so much in common in the way of blame and loss and guilt. He was almost surprised he hadn’t sussed it out before, he was the Sheriff after all, that was his job. But sometimes it was the most obvious answers that took the longest to find.


End file.
